Haloumi, Pumpkin and Raw Beet Salad

My post easter, meat and chocolate overdose called for a healthy but flavourful creation this week. I love a good beetroot slaw, but lets be honest, it's not a meal, so I filled it out with brown rice, pumpkin and haloumi. 
Haloumi is one of those cheeses that even staunch meat eaters are happy to eat. It's rich, but not too overwhelming, and the subtle spices in this dish work really well with it. 

I used buttercup squash pumpkin in this dish, slightly nutty flavour, but does tend to be a bit dryer so I had to add some liquid while cooking it off in the pan. Any variety of pumpkin will do, you just may need to adjust your cooking time. I also used a variety of brown and black rice, but just brown will work. I wouldn't recommend white rice though, it doesn't hold its texture as well for salads. 






Ingredients: 

• 1/2 pumpkin, peeled and diced
• 1 large mild red chilli, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp tumeric 
• 1/4 olive oil
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 spring onion, finely sliced (white parts - reserve the green bits for the slaw
• 250g haloumi cheese

Slaw 

• 3/4c of brown rice, cooked then drained
• 4 small beetroot
• 4 carrots
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted in a dry pan
• spring onion, green parts only
• 1 tbsp cinnamon 
• juice of 1 orange
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

Steam the pumpkin for 8 minutes till cooked through, drain and put into large frying pan with chilli, curry powder, turmeric, olive oil, red wine vinegar and onion. Stir to mix over a medium heat to crisp up the pumpkin a little. Set aside. 

Peel the carrots and beetroot. Grate them all, and toss together with cooked rice, cumin seeds, greens from the spring onion, cinnamon, orange juice and olive oil. 

Finally cube the haloumi and fry in an oiled hot pan till golden on the outside. 

Serve haloumi on top of pumpkin and beet slaw. Dig in. 

Serves 4 as a main meal, 8 as a side.